Robin Griffith-Jones

With over 2 billion followers alive today, Jesus Christ may be the most influential person to have ever walked the Earth. Story of Jesus relates the epic tale of Jesus' life, from the prophecies surrounding his birth and childhood in Nazareth, to his adult years spreading his ministry and gaining followers. Discover the people Jesus selected to be his Apostles, who would witness his most dramatic moments and carry forward his teachings. Uncover the truth behind Judas' betrayal, Jesus' encounter with Pilate, and the crucifixion at Golgotha. Packed with incredible imagery and insight into this historical period, this is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to unearth the true story of Jesus of Nazareth.

William Marshal, born about 1147, was the son of a minor lord who held the hereditary title of ‘Marshal’, or head of the king’s security. He became a knight loyal to five kings, the most powerful man in the kingdom, the hero of Magna Carta and a saviour of England. At his funeral in the Temple Church, London, on 20 May 1219, he was described by the Archbishop of Canterbury as ‘the greatest knight in the world’. William’s son commissioned a biography of his father, The History of William Marshal, which brings William vividly to life and is the fullest and most dramatic such biography to reach us from the Middle Ages. The Rotunda of the Temple Church still contains eight 13th-century effigies of knights in armour. Three of the Marshals – William and two of his sons – are known to have been buried in the Church. By the late 16th century, antiquarians were trying to identify William’s effigy among them; and since 1843 one effigy in particular has been universally accepted to be William’s. This has recently been disputed by a set of drawings, dating to c. 1610, discovered in Washington, DC. These drawings show all the medieval effigies in the Temple Church – and a further, long-lost gravestone which matches the earliest descriptions of William’s tomb. This raises a fascinating question: has the real monument to William been lost? This book will uncover the details of this latest discovery and commemorate the greatest knight that ever lived.

An entertaining historical guide to a legendary and mysterious order of medieval warrior knights. The templars have been associated with everything from freemasonry to the Holy Grail, and the Shroud of Turin. Their powerful military-religious status and equally dramatic fall in the 1300s have fascinated and intrigued historians and popular myth-makers alike. The historical backdrop of the Crusades gives background to this brotherhood of knights, with detailed information on their activities and base in London in the early 1160s until the French King Philip IV turned on them in 1307. This authoritative guide includes the medieval legends of the templars in romantic and epic literature, their doomed Crusades and dominance in Christendom, their fall from grace and disbandment by the Pope, while also reporting on this surviving sect’s secretive and unusual activities today. Look out for more Pitkin guides on the best in history, royalty, tradition and travel

The figure of Mary Magdalene has fascinated and perplexed people for centuries. She is portrayed in the Gospels as a neurotic woman, possibly with a past, yet she is the first to encounter the risen Christ and he charges her with the responsibility of proclaiming the resurrection. She is therefore Christianity's first evangelist - a difficult concept for churches with exclusively male hierarchies who prefer to think of her as just a reformed prostitute. The belief that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus and that the Church has tried to suppress this truth was not invented in recent years but is almost as old as Christianity itself. This gives a grand tour through 2000 years history, art and tradition with surprises and discoveries all the way.

In this compelling portrait of Paul the man, his message, and his world, Robin Griffith-Jones reveals the apostle as a brilliantly entrepreneurial witness to the transforming presence of Jesus himself. This groundbreaking book unlocks Paul's letters, revealing their purpose and power as never before.

"Who Do You Say I Am?"Four Witnesses Offer Strikingly Different Testimony to the Life and Death of JesusBringing the stories of Jesus to life for the contemporary reader, Robin Griffith-Jones revives the origional power and intent of each of the four gospels. He presents a lively discussion of how and why each gospel was written, considering the substance and style of the testimony itself as well as the unique context of each story. Mark's gospel tells the rebel's story of Jesus as a failed revolutionary whose mission mysteriously succeeds. For the rabbi Matthew, Jesus is the long-awaited fulfillment of Jewish expectation. For Luke, Jesus is a heroic, compassionate social revolutionary who confidently and mercifully dies on behalf of all humanity. John's gospel is a mystic's interpretation of the divinity of Jesus told in powerful poetic language."Who do you say I am?" Each gospel offers its own answer to Jesus' question, influenced by the context of its writing and the personality of its writer. All four gospels taken together provide what one alone could not: a remarkably full and compelling presentation of Jesus and his message.